HughForrest

That explains it. And neither of my cars woulda' used this part. Anybody need them? The price ($0) is right.

Took a little longer than planned, but here are the mystery items. This is two different pics of the same 2 pieces in case that isn't clear. The DCPD logo is clear on the back.

I'll be there Friday at least. Maybe Saturday too. Not sure if I'll be showing (50 Plymouth woodie in the woodie club area) or just spectating. I'm not expected to contend for any awards...

The camera is at work, but I'm home. Pics in a couple days if nobody can find the number.

On my '38 Chrysler (RustyHope disc kit and S-10 power booster & M/C, 1980's Mopar drum brake rear) I absolutely needed an adjustable proportioning valve. Without it there was no way of getting the brakes anywhere close to right. BTW the Speedway valve is a Wilwood with a Speedway sticker stuck on top of the Wilwood sticker. I peeled the Speedway sticker off mine to make it classier...

I'm not tempermentally suited for a show car, and my work is not to that standard; and since working on the cars is what I enjoy anyway it all works out for me. I have drivers I can really drive without too much worry.

Found a couple of pieces that don't seem to go to either of my cars, but I can't find them by the number in either of my books or online. Look to be chromed pot metal interior pieces I think, though I can't tell what they're for, with DCPD #794854. Thanks, Hugh

BilletProof in Antioch 9/20 and Hotrod Reunion in Penngrove (Santa Rosa area) 9/27. Both are well regarded "Traditional" hotrod/custom oriented shows.

Volt and amp meters tell you different things about your charging system. All my reading says a failed amp meter will not set your car on fire. If it fails it'll fail like it was a fuse and just cut the power through it. If you have a wire rub through it's insulation and arc to your firewall or dash that is not the fault of your ammeter.

Your Alt rarely puts out its full capacity. I'm running both my cars on 12 volt 60something amp alts with original amp gauges with no trouble. I don't think the amp gauge wire is 20 ga though. 10 ga is more like it. That is what was in my harness (EZ Wire brand).

I just posted this on the HAMB, but thought it would also be of interest here. Plus I'm way too proud of it just now.... When I got my '38 Chrysler a couple of years ago, among the many poor decisions the P.O. made, was the dash. He'd taken a nice, stylish, deco original dash and cut the middle out of it. He'd put in a flatish piece of sheetmetal and filled it with modern SW gauges. It looked like this: He also got rid of the original column and steering wheel and replaced them with 1980something stuff. He lost all the cool original stuff except the instruments, which he sold After I got the car running I went on a scavenger hunt for all the stuff I needed. I even found the original instruments from my car, but that guy wouldn't sell. '38 Chrysler stuff isn't common. It took awhile... Eventually I got it all together. I needed to paint the dash, and was going to try my hand at woodgraining, but I'd really always admired the marble and granite- looking bakelite on the some of the '41ish (and probably a couple other years too) Mopars. I knew I couldn't paint like that, and I couldn't afford to have a true pro do it by hand. That's when I found about "Hydro Graphics", or "Immersion Graphics" It is a process where they paint a base coat on your part, then float a thin film with the graphic of your choosing on a tub of water and roll your part through it like coating an easter egg. They have a huge library of graphics, and some of them look a lot like stone. Here's what I got: And the finished product installed:

I get Jackson screws from the local auto upholstery guy. He didn't know that was the name for them, but he knew exactly what they were. Upholstery shops often have many small drawers of "Auveco" (a brand name) fasteners. Thats where they live. My local guy didn't mind giving me the 20 or so I needed along with those funny flush finish washers for free. He had many sizes in the bins.

I just used a fellow I found in Hemmings for a custom speedo cable. He does repair and speaks old car: Ron Higson 626.485.5618 located in SoCal He was fast, correct, and very well priced for what I needed.

Marty- Where did you find a shop in the bay area? I need some work done and can only find Palo Alto Speedometer. $$$$!

I used De Moise http://www.demoise.com/ And was very happy with the price, communication, and service. Mine was Maine to Santa Cruz, Ca.

I like the uninsulated terminals but can't find them locally, so I get the insulated ones and take off the vinyl sleeve. I slip on heat shrink tubing, then crimp-no solder as I tend to overheat things. A while back I asked a professional electrican what pliers and crimpers he likes best. Without hesitation he said "Klein". I got a pair of the Klein plier-style crimpers with the "Tooth-and-valley" for uninsulated terminals as described above, and a little wire nipper beak. Couldn't be happier with it, and the price was pretty good at Home Despot.

Bob- I have a G.A. overdrive with a 4.11 rear in my 50 woodie that you'd be welcome to test drive if you make it to Santa Cruz. It is very happy at freeway speeds. Hugh

Did you find out what it was really for? I'd sure like a couple of nice shiny ones like that.

It looks an awful lot like the front bumper on my '38 Chrysler. I have the 5 o.c. bolt holes that go with a one-piece (well...its made of several pieces, but they are joined together) bumper bracket. The flatter profile also looks the same. In my parts book it looks like bumper part #'s change with almost every year. What are its measurements?

I did as Norm and Rockabilly suggested, and sure enough got the speedo moving. Still thinking about swapping faces though, 'cause the one with the bad face has a much better backside indicating it has spent less of its life in bad environments in spite of the stains on the front. Robert- I appreciate the advice., but I'm jealous you got my gauges....Actually I found a couple of sets in various conditions and have more than enough parts to make a good set. Even a couple of extra pieces of the domed glass. I've never seen the clock you've got in the middle of your temp/amp/etc panel though. Now THAT is cool. I think one of the panels I got used to have it, but it was gone before they came to me. Something else to keep an eye out for I guess.

I'm putting original gauges back in my 38 Chrysler. I have two speedos: #1 looks very nice, but is jammed (cable can't turn it at all) Speedo #2 works nice and smooth, but the face is stained and less presentable. When I've tried to clean old gauge faces in the past the paint came right off, so I'm thinking I can open the bezels, remove the glass, remove the needle, and then swap the faces. The questions: Does the needle just pull straight off? I'm nervous about pulling too hard. Any other pitfalls I'm not thinking of? Or is there a way you've successfully cleaned old gauge faces so I don't have to do a face transplant at all?

The heater valve from a 1969 Ford 1/2 ton pickup is just the same as Norms. $14 today at my local Kragen/Checker/Shucks. Was $25 for the same thing at another parts store so shop around.

Reg- I have an early '50 (some 49 trim...)Special Deluxe (woodie)wagon here in Santa Cruz if you ever want to come look at anything. My body is all original cept for a few repairs over the years. FWIW onthe woodie vs. the steelie, the taillight housings have a different curve where they meet the body pillar in addition to the other apparent differences. Don't know about interchanging the lenses though.

I've done this on both my 38 and my 50 in the past few years. While I know it is just a marketing slogan, I believe "Do it once and do it right" makes a lot of sense. It is a few bucks more to replace all wear items now, but if it saves you having to go back into the front end a couple of years (or maybe immediately, if you're unlucky) it is more than worth it. I bought the Kanter front end kit for the 50 and was happy with it, and with their customer service when I needed some extra kingpin parts due to my own error. For the 38 I bought parts on ebay and saved a few bucks, but it was way more of a hassle. Do yourself a favor and do shock mounts while you are in there. It is well worth the small additional trouble and expense. I believe Charlie sells a kit for this. Uses modern, cheap, easily available shocks too. Don't forget to do your sway bar links and bushings while you are under there!!

Hi Don- I've been looking in on the forum occasionally, but my life got awful busy for quite a while. That photo of the Chrysler is pretty old: I actually got to drive it some this summer. Right now it is back in dry dock while I pull out the P.O.'s hacked up dashboard and put in a proper 1938 one. I'll be trying out the temp gauge fix (new line and bulb with old gauge) shortly, and will be shopping for a single-wire fuel gauge sender if anyone has an extra. Cheers, Hugh